Rail-joint



J. SHEPARD.

RAIL JOINT.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.28.19I9.

Patented Aug. 3, 1 920.

Onvul'w J 671 epard.

. UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN SHEPARD, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAIL-J OIN T.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug. 3, 1920.

Application filed February 28, 1919. Serial No. 279,685.

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, JOHN SHEPARD, a citizen of the'UnitedStates, residing at Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail-Joints; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. This invention relates to rail joints'and the primary object of the invention is to provide an improved means for connecting 1 vhaving inwardly extending flanges 6 formed the terminals of railroad rails together, without the usual nuts and bolts extending through the rails, so as to eliminate the necessity of boring holes through the rail ends and thereby weakening the same. 7

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved rail joint for preventing the separation of the rail terminals, which is generally caused by displacement of the bolts from the rails, caused by the jar transmitted to the rails from the passing trains.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved rail joint, which will allow the railsto contract and expand during the varying weatherconditions and at the same time prevent displacement of the rails.

A still further object of the inventionis to provide an improved rail chair for receiving the rail ends, which extends from one tie to another, so as to form a bridge for the rail joints and thereby prevent the rails from being forced downwardly by the weight of the train.

A further object of the invention is to provide improved means for connecting the rail chair to the ties, so asto prevent displacement thereof.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved rail joint of the above character, which is durable and efiicient in use, one that is simple and easy to manufacture, and one that can be placed upon the market at a reasonable cost.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and formation of parts, as will be hereinafter more specifically described, claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the 1mproved rail oint,

improved rail chair, which is adapted to receive the terminals ofthe ordinary rail sections 2 and 3. The rail chair 1 extends across the ordinary ties 4.

The rail chair 1 includes abase plate 5,

on the side edges thereof which are adapted to engage over the base flanges 7 of the rail sections 2 and 8. Each of the rail sections includes the head or ball 8,'the web 9 and the base flanges 7. The inner surfaces of the inwardly extending flanges 6 are formed, so as to conform to the configuration of'the base flanges 7 and to snugly receive thesame, so as toprevent lateral movement of the rail the entire length of the base plate and are provided with extensions 10 at each side thereof, which extend upwardly and en age the web 9 of the rails and the lower-sur aces of the heads of the rails. The upper edges of the extensions 10 are inclined and rounded as at 11 to conform to the configuration of the head and extend slightly beyond the side edges of the head and form sections in the chair. These flanges extend means for providing an additional support for the heads of the rails. These extensions, as stated, form a brace for the rail heads and also form means for snugly engaging the web and head, so as to form a friction contact with the rail and prevent creeping thereof.

The chair 1 extends from one tie to the adjacent tie, as clearly shown in Fig. 1, and forms a bridge for the rail joint and thus prevents the same from being bent downwardly by the passing trains. The chair 1 is provided with spaced apertures 12, which receive the upper ends of the U-shaped bolts or clevises 13 which preferably extend around the ties 4, as clearly shown in Fig. 1 of-the drawings. The legs 14 of the clevises are preferably thickened, as'at 16, so as to strengthen the same and prevent the same from being broken. The upper terminals of the clevises are threaded and are extende th gh a l ngitudinally extendnal movement of the chair is eliminated.'

The plate 17 extends from one bolt end to the other so that the same will be prevented from turning and thus helps to prevent displacement of the nuts. The edges of the ties may be provided with grooves for receiving the legs of the clevises so as to prevent lateral movement of the rails and chairs and thus prevent spreading of the rails.

If so desired, the ties may be provided with vertically extending apertures 22 through which the legs of the clevises may be extended and the upper ends thereof may be extended through the base flanges of the rails, as clearly shown in Fig. 3 of the drawin t is to be understood that the rail joint can be used either for steam or electric lines and the clevises may be dispensed with entirely and the chair spiked into position.

To prevent the nuts 19 from being jarred off of the bolts or clevises 14 the meeting surfaces of the nuts 19 and the plates 17 should be roughened and a mixture of grease and sand placed intermediate the same, which would effectively bind the same together.

In practice, I have found that the form of my invention illustrated in the accompanyin drawings and referred to in the above escription, as the preferred embodiment, is the most efiicient and practical; yet realizing the conditions concurrent with the adoption of my device will necessarily vary, I desire to emphasize that various minor changes in details of construction, proportion and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, when required without sacrificing any of the advantages of my invention as set forth.

What I claim as new is:

In a device of the class described, the combination with a pair of rail sections and supporting ties therefor, of a rail chair arranged to receive the meeting terminals of the rail sections, fianges formed on the rail chair and arranged to conform to the configuration of the rail sections and to snugly receh'e the same, said'chair having a pair of spaced apertures formed therein, U shaped bolts embracing the ties and having the terminals thereof extended through the apertures, said terminals being tapered from the intermediate portions of the bolts toward their ends, longitudinally extending plates extending from one bolt to the other and having apertures formed therein and arranged to receive the terminals of the bolts, the lower surfaces of the plates be ing beveled to bear snugly upon the upper surface of the chair and the upper surfaces of the plates being level to provide holding surfaces, and nuts fitted on the free ends of the bolts to hold the same against displacement.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN SHEPARD. 

